The Cadillac CT5 has been rated the best Midsize Premium Car in the 2021 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study.
The J.D. Power Initial Quality Study is conducted by surveying new vehicle owners on the number of problems they experienced during the first 90 days of ownership, per 100 vehicles. A lower score means fewer problems were experienced and is thus indicative of higher initial quality.
Survey participants were impressed with the initial quality of the Cadillac CT5, placing it number one in the Midsize Premium Car category – outclassing the Lexus ES, which was the runner-up in this segment. Rival mid-size premium cars that lagged behind the Cadillac CT5 and Lexus ES in this study include the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Genesis G80 and Audi A5.
This year’s J.D. Power Initial Quality Study is based on the survey responses from 110,827 purchasers and lessees of new 2021 model-year vehicles, who answered 223 questions with regard to vehicle quality split into nine vehicle categories. These included infotainment, features, controls and displays, exterior, driving assistance, interior, powertrain, seats, driving experience and climate. The study was fielded from February through July 2021.
As we pointed out with the C8 Corvette Stingray and its strong performance in the 2021 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, the Cadillac CT5’s high initial quality means owners are experiencing minimal problems with the vehicle early in the ownership lifecycle.
This year, one in four of all problems cited by new-vehicle owners were in the infotainment category, J.D. Power said, and six of the top 10 problems across the industry are infotainment-related. The newly introduced wireless versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have so far proven problematic in many new 2021 model year vehicles, it also said, although it seems these bugs were not overly common in the Cadillac CT5.
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Comments
Nice job, GM! This is your 1991 Buick LeSabre moment, but bigger, so let the world know about it. Go BIG- this quality rating should be the splash page on the website, etc. Find out what’s going right and double down on that across your product line and continue to improve CUE.
At 46, I’m officially losing my memory and stand corrected regarding the 1991 Buick LeSabre quality rating. J.D. Power bestowed the ’91 LeSabre “The Best American-made car”, meaning the scope focused on vehicles manufactured only on US soil, a hot topic back then. As a whole, Ford and Japanese counterparts actually scored higher than the LeSabre, although they were manufactured elsewhere. All that said, the CT5’s top initial quality rating in its class 30 years later is free of any “fine print” and the icing on this cake is that it beat Lexus and the CT5 is made in the US of A. Well-done, GM. Keep it up!
I imagine LGR’s lines are moving at the proverbial snail’s pace so they ought to be able to turn out a quality product.
Cadillac’s only path back to dominance is quality. People feel “smart” for buying a CR winner even though most consumers deep down know it’s silly.
Most automakers make quality cars and so many complaints center around technology. Even cash strapped Alfa was able to build a Stelvio capable of winning Texas SUV of the year and Ram as truck of the year. The only real junk out there is Fiat (minus 500X) and Nissan.
Next big news will be the BOLD decision from the GM brain trust to cancel the CT5… This car is a outlier from the generic GM vending machine of good enough cars and must be purged…
I expect that’ll happen (CT5 cancelation) although I wish not. I’d like to see them address the oddity that is the CT5’s C-pillar and improve the interior and install exclusive engines. I’d like to see a new and improved CT6 too with the Blackwing. That future will never be. EVs are cheaper to build with their generic electric motors and battery packs and gm can claim to be doing it all for the environment so that’s the path they’ve chosen. It’s a win-win. It benefits the shareholders and it allows Mary to be heralded as a hero by the politicians she associates with.
If gm really cared about the environment, they’d immediately banish all Yukon’s, Tahoe’s, Escalades and their hulking 6.2 L V8. But they don’t because it really is not about the environment. If they cared about Global Warming, they wouldn’t be on the cusp of launching an 8,000 pound Hummer that is a useless product and still an energy hog even if it is an EV. No, it’s all about moving consumers to vehicles more profitable for gm. Electric Cadillacs will truly be parts bin products with a cheap-to-build electric motor with none of the complexity and engineering brilliance of a Blackwing type engine. It’s like a digital clock vs. a mechanical clock. They both do the job but one is a fine and precise instrument; a marvel of engineering and the other is just cheap to build vibrating crystal. Most high-end clockmakers build both. I wish Cadillac was going to do that too.
Lexus infotainment is one of the worst in the industry right there with the old cue system. So on these JD powers and other rating cause of that it gets a poor rating. I actually like both of these cars the CT5 v and ES f sport and would buy either one.i would like the ct5 more for sure but it’s almost 20k more and Lexus 3.5 engine is one of or the most reliable out there,don’t know much about GM’s 3.0, good motor and more fun for sure. I’m leaning more to the ES since I have a camaro and need my primary car to be reliable 1st
I am very happy Cadillac made it over Lexus .
Despite the ‘ details ‘, JD Power carries prestige with people.
Just drop that C – pillar anomaly & horizontal protrusions on the storied vertical ‘ fin ‘ lights & things would get even better !
Plus , sharper interior …..
I have great affection for Cadillac ; just hope the people at GM do too !
Infotainment system problems, who would have thunk it…. LOL
GM think. We can save a lot of money not advertising this… We then cancel the car to remove any future chance of it happening again.. GM management an bored of directors erupt in fits of self congratulations….
Wait! It is highly unlikely any of them even know. Problem solved and they dont need to do a thing…………….
But its still UGLY and not worthy of the Cadillac Crest on its grill !!!!
Typical $20 gm cheap gauge cluster.